Meet Master Wiljen

We would like to introduce you to our Master Wiljen! Who is Wiljen Veldhuis exactly? What makes him enthusiastic, and what is he proud of? All these questions will be answered here.

Wiljen is 39 years old, married, and has two children: a son of 10 and a daughter of 8. He spends a lot of time with his family and, for relaxation, Wiljen likes to work on his car or do DIY work on his 1970s house. If he still has time left in the weekend, Wiljen can also be found at the Reformed church, where together with his band he gives old psalms a modern twist as a keyboard player. Words that describe Wiljen at his core are: goal-oriented, justice, and humor.

As a young boy, Wiljen often worked on cars together with his father, who taught automotive engineering. Cars and engines, especially older cars, play a major role in his life. This gives him ultimate relaxation! The way of thinking he learned while working on cars also helps him in daily life when solving problems. Step by step excluding possible causes to get to the root of the problem is something Wiljen learned from working on cars. Recently, Wiljen also obtained his motorcycle license and is currently exploring what kind of motorbike he would like to buy. In addition, Wiljen also enjoys the luxury that modern times offer…

Wiljen has always had a passion for technology. He started at MTS, where he studied mechanical engineering. After that, he continued at the University of Applied Sciences (HBO) in Enschede, where he studied technical business administration, a strong combination of engineering and business management. It was there that Wiljen first became acquainted with business and production processes. Wiljen thinks in processes and constantly tries to figure out how things can be made more efficient. He applies this mindset to small processes, such as the cheese slicer he keeps next to the cheese in his fridge, but especially to large-scale processes.

In recent years, Wiljen has spent much of his career fully optimizing the production line at Voortman Steel Machinery. This resulted in the implementation of a one-piece flow process in the production hall. As a result, lead time was drastically reduced from 3 months to 2 weeks. Performance is important to Wiljen, but never without humor. With his “work hard, play hard” mentality, he gets a lot done. Wiljen has a story about a challenging assignment involving colleagues from the film Madagascar; he will happily tell you more about it if you ask him 😉.

“You are better off regretting the things you have done than the things you have not done…”

Throughout his career, Wiljen has held several roles at different companies. The common thread is that he always leaves organizations more efficient than when he started. Wiljen is always looking for new challenges once most of the improvements have been implemented. At that point, something starts to itch, and he looks around for something new in his environment. That is why, in early 2021, he chose to start an entrepreneurial journey with Masters In Lean. He does this as an associate partner and experienced Lean Black Belt.